THUNDER BAY – The Ministry of Health is calling the closure of the region's only safe injection site "an opportunity."
Hannah Jensen, a MoH spokesperson, stated, “Each closing Consumption Treatment Site will have the opportunity to convert into a HART Hub.”
The Ministry responded to a Newswatch interview with Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Lise Vaugeois, where she said the Ford Government banned safe consumption sites was “not based on evidence.”
Ontario’s HART Hubs connect people with mental health services, primary care, and other healthcare supports but do not provide safe consumption or safe supply services.
Currently, Vaugeois is submitting a petition to save Northern Ontario's only safe injection site – NorWest Community Health Centres’ Path 525 – before it closes in March 2025.
NorWest Community Health Centres’ is located on Simpson Street near Ogden Elementary School, but the government ban prevents Path 525 from operating within 200 metres of schools and child-care centres.
“We recognize Ontarians deserve more than a health care system that is focused on providing people struggling with addiction with tools to use illegal drugs,” said Jensen.
Vaugeois stated that there was a lack of evidence-based information being spread around Queen’s Park.
She commented that 11 of the conservative representatives in Queen’s Park “tried to pretend that youth hubs” were going to supply the needles.
“Well, nobody ever said that,” Vaugeois said.
“It's an attempt to confuse people to distort what the actual issue is. So, right now, I'll say that they're kicking and screaming really hard to keep their position and not budge,” she continued.
However, the Ontario government is holding tightly to “taking action to keep communities safe while supporting the recovery of those struggling with opioid addiction,” said Jenson.